Bulge testing apparatus



Nov. 2, 1965 J. o. SKUNDBERG BULGE TESTING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 17. 1962m H mm mam U ham 5 a w My J w W a 6 5 a F 0X United States PatentWaldorf Paper Products Company, St. Paul, Minn., a

corporation of Minnesota Filed Oct. 17, 1962, Ser. No. 231,109 Claims.(Ci. 33-147) This invention relates to an improvement in Bulge TestingApparatus and deals particularly with a simple instrument for measuringthe bulge of carton panels.

When paperboard cartons are filled with a powdering or fiowablesubstance such as flour, the two opposed larger panels or face panels ofthe cartons have a tendency to bulge outwardly to a considerable extent.This bulge is dependent upon numerous factors such as the weight of thepaperboard used in the formation of the carton, the stiffness of thisparticular board, the direction of grain in the board if there is such agrain, and other such variables. This bulge is usually not particularlynoticeable at the time the cartons are filled, as the extent of thebulge is not readily detected. However, the bulge is particularlydisadvantageous when the cartons of product are placed in a shippingcontainer and shipped to the store or to the consumer. When thecontainers are opened, it is usually found that the product hascompacted or compressed due to the forces to which the container hasbeen subjected during shipment, and in some instances the cartons bulgeto the extent that they are very diflicult to remove from the container.This causes the surfaces of the panels to rub together, often defacingthe main panels of the carton and causing the cartons to look shopwornby the time they are placed upon the shelf for display.

In general, the only common way of testing the cartons for bulge is byobserving the bulge in the cartons both before and after shipment. Thususually the difficulty which is caused by the bulging of the cartons isnot apparent until the cartons are ready for use. As a result, manymanufacturers have found after large shipments of the goods have beenmade, that the paperboard which they are using in the cartons is notthick enough or not stiff enough to properly carry the product. It is anobject of the present invention to provide a simple and effectiveapparatus for measuring the bulge in the cartons so that the bulgeproduced by cartons of various thicknesses of board and various degreesof stiffness can be readily determined.

A feature of the present invention resides in the pro vision of a deviceof the type described which includes a platform and a means of locatinga carton in a generally upright position on the platform. Verticalguides are provided, preferably on both sides of the carton andvertically slidable gauges are mounted upon these guides to travel in avertical position. Each of the slides supports a pointer which ispivotal on a horizontal axis and which is provided at its lower end witha roller which is engageable with the surface of the carton, preferablynear the transverse center of the main panels. When the slide is inlowered position, this pointer will indicate a zero position on a scaleforming a part of the slide gauges. However, as the slides are raised,the roller will travel along the surface of the main panel, preferablyto the point of greatest bulge, and will remain 3,214,838 Patented Nov.2, 1965 in this position during the remainder of travel. By calibratingthe gauge, the pointer may be arranged to indicate the actual amount ofbulge in the carton walls.

A feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a deviceof the type described including a platform, a plate overlying theplatform and forming one side of a channel to accommodate the carton, amovably supported plate on the platform, movable toward and away fromthe first fixed plate to accommodate cartons of different widths, andslide guides mounted upon the two plates and adjustable therewith. As aresult, the slidable gauges are separated simultaneously with the platesforming the carton accommodating channel so as to remain always inproper relation to the carton contained in the channel.

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention willbe more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification andclaims.

In the drawings forming a part of the specification:

FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view of the bulge tester showing thegeneral arrangement of parts therein.

FIGURE 2 is another perspective view of the bulge tester showing theslidable gauges in starting position.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the apparatus in readiness foroperation.

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the apparatus with the carton removed.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view through a portion of the movable plate andplatform, the position of the section being indicated by the line 5-5 ofFIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view through another portion of the 'slidableplate and platform, the position of the section being indicated by theline 6-6 of FIGURE 4.

In general, the bulge testing apparatus includes a generally rectangularplatform 10 having legs 11 projecting downwardly from the cornersthereof so that the platform may better adjust itself to a supportingsurface. A fixed rectangular plate is secured in face contact with theplatform 10 along one side edge thereof, the plate 12 defining ashoulder or abutment 13 designed to engage against a face wall of thecarton B to be tested. The bulge tester is indicated in general by theletter A.

The platform 10 also supports a generally rectangular plate 14 generallysimilar to the plate 12, but having a laterally extending projection 15thereupon. The plate 14 lies in face contact with the platform 10 andpresents a shallow abutment 16 which is parallel to the abutment 13, theabutment walls 13 and 16 and the upper surface of the platform 10forming a channel to receive the carton B.

As indicated in FIGURES 5 and 6 of the drawings, the platform 10 isprovided with a slot 17 extending therethrough which is at right anglesto the shoulders or abutments 13 and 16. A bar 19 fits snugly within thegroove 17 and is slidable therein to permit the plates 12 and 14 to movetoward and away from one another within desired limits. An anchoringplate 20 underlies the platform 10 to hold the plate 14 in engagementwith the platform 10. The bar 19 is preferably slightly thicker than theplate 10 so that the plates 14 and 20 may slide freely without undueplay. Bolts 21 extend through the plate 14 and bar 19 and are threadedinto the retaining plate 20 to hold the strucutre assembled.

The plate 14 is held in an adjusted position by a clamping screw 22having an enlarged head 23 which bears against the upper end of aspacing sleeve 24. The clamping screw 22 passes through an opening 25 inthe laterally extending projection 15 on the plate 14 and is threadedinto the retaining bar or plate 20. By tightening the thumb screw 22,the platform may be clamped between the projection 15 and the plate tohold the plate 14 in an adjusted position.

A slide guide in the form of a pair of parallel rods 26 and 27 areanchored to the plate 12 to extend upwardly therefrom in spaced parallelrelation. The rods are held in parallel relation at their upper ends bya cross connecting member 29. A similar slide guide including a pair ofparallel vertical rods 30 and 31 are anchored to the slidable plate 14to extend upwardly therefrom. The rods 30, 31 are connected at theirupper ends for support by a cross member 32. A slide or crossheadindicated in general by the numeral 33 is slidably supported on the rods26 and 27, and a crosshead 34 is slidably supported on the rods 30, 31.As the two crossheads are identical except for being reversed, they willbe provided with similar identifying numerals.

Each of the crossheads 33 and 34 includes a base plate 35 supporting apair of bearings 36 and 37 which accommodate the vertical rods of thecorresponding slide guide. A gauge plate 39 is secured to the forwardend of the base plate 35 by bolts 40 or other suitable means. The gaugeplates 39 are provided with sector shape upper ends 41 which is providedwith a series of angularly spaced gauge marks 42 forming a scale. Thescale may be arbitrarily spaced, or may be spaced to provide an actualmeasurement in thousandths of an inch or other suitable distances.

Each of the gauge plates 39 is provided near its lower end with alateral extension 43 which supports a horizontal pivot 44 having itsaxis parallel the abutments 13 and 16 locating the carton B. A pointer45 is pivotally supported by the pivot 44, and a roller 46 is pivotallysupported at the lower end of the pointer also on an axis parallel tothe axis of the pivot 44. A pair of angle brackets on each of the gaugeplates 39 is provided with a stop pin 47 against which the pointer 45may rest when the pointer 45 is at zero. In the position shown in FIG--URE 2 of the drawings, the pointers normally would be at zero or verynear the zero mark due to the fact that the cartons will normally bulgeto the greatest extent near or slightly below the vertical center of thecarton, and at the lateral center of the face panel such as 49. Thepointer 45 to the right side is shown pivoted away from the stop, pin 47for the purpose of simplifying the illustration.

A pair of angle brackets 50 are slidably supported on the rods 26 and30, and are held in an adjusted position by means of thumb screws 51which engage against the rods 26 and 30. The angle brackets 51) extendhorizontal portions 52 through which the rods 26 and 30 extend, andvertical portions 53 which extend downwardly in parallel relation toeach other and to the supporting rods. The inner opposed surfaces of thevertical portions 53 are notched as indicated at 54 at their lower endsto accommodate a portion of the juncture between the top of the cartonand the face panels 49. The guides 50 are so proportioned that thevertical planes of the notches 54 coincide with the planes of thevertical abutments 13 and 16 so that the cartons B are held in verticalrelation and centered between the slide guides.

The operation of the apparatus is extremely simple. The thumb screws 22are loosened, the carton B is placed on the platform 10 between theparallel abutments 13 and 16, and the plate 14 is moved into engagementWith the carton to clamp the lower end of the carton between the plates12 and 14. The angle brackets 50 are then adjusted in height andpositioned so that the notches 54 engage the upper portion of thecarton, the notches holding the carton from lateral movement and fromvertical movement. The crossheads 33 and 34 may then be raised eithersingly or simultaneously, the crossheads being provided with laterallyprojecting pins 55 by means of which they may be grasped. With thepointer 45 swung towards its zero position which is at the outer end ofthe scale 42, the rollers 46 will be in engagement with the carton facewalls 49 near the center point thereof. The crossheads are then raisedslowly, this action causing the rollers 46 to roll along the surfaces ofthe panels 49.

The extent to which the pointers 45 will pivot Will thus depend upon theamount of bulge. In preferred form, the pivots 44 support the pointerswith sufiicient friction so that they will stay in the position ofmaximum bulge, the pointers 45 preferably remaining in this position sothat the amount of bulge on each side of the carton may be readilynoted. The total bulge on opposite sides of the carton may be quicklyand easily determined. In usual practice, a series of cartons of apredetermined size containing a certain weight of a given material areproduced of paperboard of various weights, stifinesses, and the like.The relative stilfness of the board is readily detected by the degree ofbulge of the carton walls. Thus the various cartons may be compared, anda determination may be made of the proper type of board to be used forcarrying a predetermined product. If desired, the tests may be made tocartons after a test shipment has been made, or after the cartons havebeen subjected to vibration or other movement to simulate the conditionsof a shipment.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principlesof construction and operation of my improvement in Bulge TestingApparatus, and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodimentthereof, I desire to have it understood that changes may be made withinthe scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit ofmy invention.

I claim:

1. A carton bulge testing device including:

a pair of spaced vertical slide guides,

means engageable with a carton between said spaced guides to hold thecarton centered,

a pair of slides vertically :slideable on said guides,

a base supporting said slide guides in parallel relation,

a pointer pivotally connected to each said slide on a horizontal axisand pivotal in a substantially common vertical plane, and

means on said pointers engageable with opposite sides of a cartonbetween said slide guides to pivot said pointers in accordance with thethickness of the carton.

2. A carton bulge testing device including,

a platform,

a fixed abutment on said platform against which one side wall of acarton resting upon said platform may engage,

a movable abutment slidably supported on said platform parallel to saidfixed abutment and movable toward and away from said fixed abutment,

a pair of parallel slide guides extending normal to the surface of saidplatform and spaced outwardly of said abutments and in equally spacedrelation thereto,

one of said slide guides being fixed adjacent said fixed abutment andthe other being movable in unison with said movable abutment, said slideguides being at a predetermined distance from their respectiveabutments,

a slide vertically slidable on each said slide guide,

a pointer pivotally supported intermediate its ends to each said slidefor pivotal movement in a plane at right angles to said abutments,

means on one end of each said pointer engageable with a wall of a cartonpositioned between, and engaging, said abutments whereby upon movementof said slides longitudinally of said guides, the pointers will bepivoted by an increase in thickness between the walls engaged by saidmeans on one end of the pointers.

3. The structure of claim 2 and including an arcuate scale on each slidecooperable with the other end of each pointer.

4. The structure of claim 2 and including means on each slide guideholding the end of the carton most remote from the end thereof engagingsaid platform centered between said slide guides.

5. The structure of claim 2 and in which said means on each said pointerincludes a roller pivotal on an axis parallel the pointer axis.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 910,706 1/09Montan 33-172 2,391,075 12/45 Steibel et a1 33-172 X 2,680,300 6/54Ruggles 33-172 X 2,854,756 10/58 Aller 33-174 FOREIGN PATENTS 865,9543/41 France.

133,432 10/51 Sweden.

ISAAC LISANN, Primary Examiner.

1. A CARTON BULGE TESTING DEVICE INCLUDING: A PAIR OF SPACED VERTICALSLIDE GUIDES, MEANS ENGAGEABLE WITH A CARBON BETWEEN SAID SPACED GUIDESTO HOLD THE CARTON CENTERED, A PAIR OF SLIDES VERTICALLY SLIDEABLE ONSAID GUIDES, A BASE SUPPORTING SAID SLIDE GUIDES IN PARALLEL RELATION, APOINTER PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO EACH SAID SLIDE ON A HORIZONTAL AXIS ANDPIVOTAL IN A SUBSTANTIALLY COMMON VERTICAL PLANE, AND